PG taxi drivers feeling pinch as gas prices soar

“I think it’s helpful for British Columbians to understand that it may be easy for politicians to understand that taxes are the problem. Those taxes go to building are roads, to providing the transit, to making sure our infrastructure is as modern as it can be.” said Horgan.

But there are industries in B.C. that are hurting from the rise, such as taxi companies.

“It is going to be hard to operate with $2/L fuel prices without some kind of help.” said Sam Kuuluvainen, General Manger of Prince George Taxi.

Prince George Taxi has 60 cars in its fleet. Their cars are owned by some of the drivers, who are responsible for insurance and maintenance, but vehicles are shared with other drivers. While dozens often use the same vehicle in a given month, the cost to fill up those tanks always falls back on the owner.

“We actually had one of our operators put on a van, three weeks ago and he actually took it off and replaced it with a Prius. So that van endeavour lasted three weeks and now he’s running a Prius simply because of the gas prices. It’s too expensive to operate the van.” said Kuuluvainen.

A simple solution would be to raise prices but companies can’t raise prices to offset fuel costs because its regulated by the Passenger Transportation Board.

Each year, the board releases a Taxi & Limousine Cost Index that determines cab rates. That is determined from the Consumer Price Index. The last time a temporary surcharge was added was in 2008 when gas reached around $1.35/L.

The B.C. Taxi Association says it’s already hearing pleas for help.

“He said ‘Mohan, we are in trouble, the gas prices are hurting our business. We can’t continue to give our same type of service, we simply can’t.'” said Mohan Kang, President of the BC Taxi Association.

The president of the association is calling on the board to act now as they’re expected to release its next cost index soon.

“The decision shouldn’t be made not like tomorrow, It should be made like yesterday, because it concerns the consumers.” said Kang.

CKPG-TV reached out for a comment from the Passenger Transportation board, but did not respond in time for broadcast.

by Oli Herrera

PG taxi drivers feeling pinch as gas prices soar

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